US Senators push Defense Department spectrum, oppose 5G commercialization

Three U.S. senators on Wednesday urged the Biden administration not to shift radio spectrum assigned to the Defense Department for military radar use in the lower 3 GHz band to 5G commercial wireless use.

Republican Deb Fischer, Democrat Mazie Hirono and independent Angus King — who all serve on the Armed Services Committee — wrote President Joe Biden saying “pursuing a policy of requiring the Department of Defense to surrender its spectrum for non-Federal use would significantly harm DOD’s ability to carry out its missions, increase costs, and adversely affect our national security.”

Industry groups argue the lower 3 GHz band is used for 5G in nearly 50 countries and that shows commercial use can coexist with U.S. military radar systems.

The Pentagon in September 2022 said “it would take us two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars” to move radars.

The White House, a group representing major wireless carriers and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) did not immediately comment.

A 22-month study by the Defense and Commerce Department on the feasibility of sharing 3 GHZ spectrum has not been released publicly.

NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson told Congress in December the Pentagon believes “that portion of spectrum is not readily available today … you can’t share it now and use it.” But he added “we have real work to do to be able to meet the conditions where we could do more sharing, but we’re not ready to give up on it.”

In November, the White House announced steps to free up additional wireless spectrum for advanced technology needs and soaring U.S. wireless demand including by repurposing spectrum currently set aside for parts of the federal government.

The Senate letter argued “at this time it would be counterproductive to initiate additional studies of the lower 3 GHz band.”

The White House National Spectrum Strategy and presidential memorandum to modernize U.S. spectrum policy includes a study of more than 2,700 megahertz of spectrum for potential repurposing.

Congress in March let the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to auction wireless spectrum lapse for the first time in three decades.

Key issues include working to free up government-owned spectrum that agencies no longer need, establishing processes for resolving spectrum-related conflicts and developing dynamic spectrum-sharing capability. Reuters